Hi Everyone, yesterday I took the day off from my 9-5 [ it was so nice!] It hit me a few days ago this Summer has really flown by. With moving back in our home and getting organized and planning our next big project, read more about it here. I wanted to take a day and spend it with my two little loves, before my oldest goes back to school next week [ why, oh why does school start so early now?] My plan for the day was enjoy the little moments with my kiddos, make them breakfast and then enjoy a kids movie. Kids movies are big around here, we're in that perfect age [ even with the big age gap] where both kids can watch the same movie and enjoy it. So happy that kids movies these days are geared toward all ages.

We love seeing movies as a family: in the theater drive-in or under the stars or at home. Yup, we take Avery to the movies, he loves it. The people and popcorn and a movie on the big screen. We've actually been taking him to see movies since he was a baby [we did the same with Tabari]. I know most people wait until their little ones are three plus, but in my experience kids movies are perfect for the little ones, Avery sits on my lap the entire movie and watches it and has fun. Yes, sometimes he gets a little loud laughing but he's having a fun and after all its a kids movie! lol

Quick Tips Taking little ones to the movies:

Take them to an earliest show on the weekday or weekend
Bring their favorite snacks
Make sure they have plenty to drinks
Sit at the end of the aisle in-case you need to leave the theater for a few mins.
Depending on your child's personalty arrive early so they feel comfortable in the theater or arrive right be for the movie starts if they get antsy waiting a while.

Here's a round up of my fun Summer Movies 'perfect for any age' we've seen so far this Summer at the theater. We try and watch most family movies on Tuesdays, we like take advantage of $5 Tuesdays most of the movie theaters around here participate in, we also subscribe to movie theater emails for coupons! Yesterday, I got one large popcorn & large drink and spend on $6.00 thanks to a coupon I got in an email [ hello savings!] I'm not sure about the area you live in, but here popcorn is pricey and so are drinks, then add in the cost of the tickets.....there goes your savings, lol. So if you haven't already check your local movie theater and sign for coupons, its so worth it.

Summer Movies at the Theater

From left to right: Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, The Croods & Turbo

I also love watching my favorite childhood movies with my kiddos, its a blast seeing their smiling faces and hearing the laughter. Our oldest Tabari is already a hardcore 80's & 90's movie lover [ even the cartoons] we joke we've raised him well. Seriously the kid knows the theme song to Ducks Tales and loves watching Heathclif [all signs point to us raising a cool well-rounded kid]

My Childhood Favorite Movies

Below are just a few of my favorite childhood movies, that I still enjoy watching. Trust me it was so hard to narrow it done to only 12 movies, lol

Goonies: This movie had me wanting to look for maps and buried treasurers. Tabari recently bought a Goonies T-shirt, I'm tempted to buy one too :)
The Dark Crystal: Hands down the best Jim Henson movie ever, and so underrated & the some of the creatures downright terrifying.

The Wizard: Loved this geeky movie about brothers and Nintendo, this movie introduced a generation of kids to 'The Power Glove.' It's crazy to think how far Ninetendo has come since then, I still have my original NES & we have a new Wii U, love them both!
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: Back in the Day when Pee-Wee was cool! Remember large Marge? Still creeps me out to this day!

Willow: Love this magical land full of Friaries, Brownies and a protective dwarf and a evil witch.
The Sandlot: Such a good baseball movie and movie about friendships and how one Summer can create a lifetime of best friends

Mac and Me: About a boy and his alien friend, almost like E.T, but I like this version better
The Witches: A boy discoveries witches are real while on Vacation with his Grandma (its good)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: My ultimate 1980's girl movie! Staring one of my favoirite actresses Sarah Jessica Paker, its full of 80's cheese and dance movies, a must see
Back to the Future: I love this movie and the cool car

Big Business: Love this movie! Love, twins separated at birth reunite and craziness ensues
Home Alone: Every kids dream, the entire house to yourself everything is fun until those pesky thieves show up to spoil Christmas.

Hopefully you enjoyed my list of childhood favorites and it brings back memories of watching movies over and over. * Some of the movies I mentioned above are on Netflix & Amazon *

Have you watched any kids movies this Summer, if so which ones? What were your favorite movies to watch when you were a kid?

A week after we officially called our house home again, we tackled a dream project. My dream has always been to have a pergola in our backyard over our patio or in our yard, basically I just wanted ~~needed~~ a pergola. This project was semi DIY meaning we had some help to get it done fast. Hasani along my Dad and one of our amazing contractors spent the weekend building our pergola over our patio [our patio was demo-ed and re-poured & the concrete is perfection] Initially we planned on going with a wood pergola and painting it white, but after many conversation with my dad and doing lots research on maintenance of a wood pergola we opted to go with a metal pergola with a vinyl overlay that looks just like wood without all the maintenance, the pergola came pre-engineered [ & we obtained all the necessary permits before adding the structure in our backyard].

Here's a few pictures of our pergola, I'm in love with the feeling it creates in our backyard. Now I should add these pictures are very much in 'progress pictures.' Both our front and backyard look like a mini waste lands [everything is dead: grass, shrubs, trees you name it & we still have debris in our yard from the fire deep sigh] We're in the process of finalizing our plan to create a beautiful front yard [ you know how much I love grass, so not having a yard is killing me
+ its no fun the kids] I'll share our backyard plans Thursday.

I'm so happy we decided to paint our back door a chartreuse to match our front door! It's such a happy color and I love how it looks with our dark grey siding. We plan on adding a modern style trellis closure to help conceal our trash / green waste / recycle containers that reside on the side our home.

Due to our rood line style in the back of our home we opted to go with a freestanding pergola over over one attached to our home [best decision in my book] Since our neighbors home 'feels so close' maybe its the color they choose, lol? I like the idea of adding a large free standing trellis in this area and growing blooming vines.

We plan on hanging pretty cafe string lights on our pergola to create pretty ambiance at night, we might even add some hanging flowers. I can't wait to throw our first party under the pergola and stars. My long term plan is to have a large seating area under the pergola, maybe an outdoor sectional. I also what a dinning table that seats many and a grill spot for Hasani. Potted plants and dwarf tress [lemons and orange trees] are a must to add color and hello fresh fruit, lol. I also want large outdoor lanterns (but going with flame-less candles instead of the real deal]

I pinned this image over a year ago before the fire and it 'stayed with me' and gave me a lot of inspiration: colorful door check, outdoor lighting check, pergola check & french doors check [ our french doors our off our master bedroom patio]

(via Pinterest Board Exterior House & Yard Ideas)

Ultimately I really want to use every inch of our backyard space to the fullest and have it feel like an extension of our house for lounging, dinners like in the picture below. The outdoor eat space below really and truly feels like an outdoor dining area, exactly what I hope to create.